Story perspectives

Lee Approves Memphis Split as Southern States Push Redistricting

5/8/2026

Center

Bill Lee Splits Memphis

Governor Bill Lee signed a measure to split Memphis into three districts, prompting demonstrators to chant “Hands off our vote!”.
Legislators in Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina advanced redistricting bills to redraw majority-Black districts after the Supreme Court’s Callais decision.
The Alabama House passed bill for primaries if courts lift an injunction on Black-majority district.
A South Carolina committee approved resolution requiring a two-thirds vote to consider redrawing Democratic district.

Left

Alabama Senate Passes

Republican Alabama state senators pushed through a redistricting bill while tornado sirens blared and a fire alarm forced evacuation.
Despite the emergency interruptions, the Alabama Senate approved the redistricting measure, moving it forward.
Democratic legislators, including Rep. Adline Clarke, warned the bill would suppress Black voting power.
Protesters repeatedly disrupted Tennessee Senate committee hearings, chanting until state troopers cleared the room.

Blindspot

Center coverage emphasized Governor Bill Lee’s signing of a measure to split Tennessee’s Memphis district into three districts, a detail absent from Left coverage.
Center coverage also reported South Carolina legislators advancing a resolution to redraw the state’s lone Democratic district, an angle not covered by the Left summary.

History

Historical Context

In 1993 the Supreme Court ruled in Shaw v. Reno that North Carolina’s oddly shaped majority-Black district violated the Equal Protection Clause, a standard later applied in Miller v. Johnson (1995). The precedent that courts can strike down racially drawn maps now guides challenges to bills proposed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Alabama senators and South Carolina legislators that would fragment Black-majority districts.

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Bill Lee Splits Memphis

Governor Bill Lee signed a measure to split Memphis into three districts, prompting demonstrators to chant “Hands off our vote!”.
Legislators in Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina advanced redistricting bills to redraw majority-Black districts after the Supreme Court’s Callais decision.
The Alabama House passed bill for primaries if courts lift an injunction on Black-majority district.
A South Carolina committee approved resolution requiring a two-thirds vote to consider redrawing Democratic district.

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